No federally sponsored research or development, and no sequence listing, table, or computer program listing compact disc appendix is applicable to this application.
This disclosure relates to the field of medical approaches to human weight loss and body weight maintenance, and more particularly to the use of the bariatric balloon.
Overweight and obesity are rising medical problems of pandemic proportions in the United States, Western Europe and elsewhere, and produce many detrimental health effects. Individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) exceeding a healthy number, generally considered to be 30 kg/m2 have a much greater risk of medical issues including: heart disease, diabetes, many types of cancer, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, and chronic musculoskeletal problems. There is also an effect of obesity on mortality. The obese typically find it difficult to lose weight on their own. It is common for dieters who have tried fad diets to find that they actually gain weight, or return to their original weight after ceasing the diet. First-line treatments for controlling body weight such as diet, exercise, behavior therapy and anti-obesity drugs, in the case of severe obesity, have had limited short-term success and very poor long-term success.
Weight loss surgery generally results in significant weight loss which may lead to improvements in quality of life and the avoidance of obesity related diseases. Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. Bariatric surgery is a successful approach to weight loss; examples including gastroplasty surgery, gastric bypass surgery, and jejunoileal bypass surgery. Surgeries for reducing the size of the stomach can cause significant weight loss by reducing the production of ghrelin, the hormone that causes hunger. A smaller stomach demands a change in diet reducing daily caloric intake. A gastric band is a commonly used device in bariatric treatment. The band is placed around the stomach through surgery and constricts the stomach completely until a new, smaller stomach pouch is formed. The band can be adjusted post-surgery by injecting saline into a corded transmitter connected to the band. Creating the restriction allows the patient to eat the right amount of food for loss of weight and maintenance of body weight thereafter. However, if one fails to eat the right foods, he/she may not receive the nutrients required for proper health. Surgical solutions, of course, have many well-known problems including: potential for infection, production of detrimental body adhesions, changes in skin surface contour, foreign body rejection effects, relatively high cost, and so on. A simpler and more cost effective approach is the well-known bariatric balloon such as defined in my earlier referenced application.
The prior art teaches the construction, placement, use, and removal of bariatric balloons. However, a major problem with the actual use of the bariatric balloon is that when food has entered the stomach it lies on top of the bariatric balloon and when a glass of water or other beverage is then ingested, the liquid is able to flush this food around the balloon thereby clearing the antral pouch allowing the patent to continue eating. The present disclosure distinguishes over the prior art and extends this technology by teaching a bariatric balloon with a novel safety device for preventing a deflated balloon from passing through the pyloric sphincter, and a means for preventing the flushing of food out of the fundal pouch in order to eliminate a “full” feeling which leads to over-eating, and, of course, tends to negate the balloon's function.